


H2O: Just Add Water X 5

by Eric Gilbert (Saberius_Prime)



Series: H2O: Just Add Water X 5 [1]
Category: H2O: Just Add Water
Genre: F/M, Mako Island, Mermaids, Teenage Drama
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-10
Updated: 2016-05-10
Packaged: 2018-06-07 15:10:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 18,443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6810448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saberius_Prime/pseuds/Eric%20Gilbert
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Emma, Cleo, Rikki, Jenna, and Shadow were five ordinary human beings before going into the Moon Pool on Mako Island during the full moon. But now every time they touch water, they sprout a tail and gain mystical powers over water. How do you keep a secret this fishy? Let's find out. Season 1 of H2O but with my two OC's added in.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Metamorphosis

Location: The Gilbert's House, Queensland, Australia, Time: March, 2006, Early Morning

Shadow's POV

I had been having nightmares for the past few months. They started small and were very blurry. But little by little they were getting clearer. And more disturbing. This was the clearest one yet. It was dark. A glistening pool of water was rippling as I saw Emma, my adoptive sister, her best friend Cleo, and Rikki, a student from the school I went to with Emma and Cleo. Jenna, who was Rikki's sister, was there too. But she looked different. They all did. They had what appeared to be orange bikini tops and something behind them which was also orange. I couldn't make out what it was. Then I heard my voice.

“Oi. Let them go.”

I look to my left and saw myself. I was looking across this cave and saw a blond haired woman in a t-shirt holding a clipboard.

“Oh, I can't do that. These girls are worth a fortune.”

“Let them go..and take me instead.”

“Why?”

“Because I have what they have too. Let them go. And take me instead.”

“Shadow! No! You can't!” a voice cried.

I saw Jenna, crying her eyes out, and the scene began to darken as loud knocking was heard on my door. I opened my eyes.

“Eric? Wake up! It's time to go to school. Emma's already left.”

“Alright, Mrs. Gilbert. I'm getting up.”

I sat up and put my legs over the bed. It had been over a week now since the Gilbert's told me I was adopted by them. All of the life I knew was a lie. So, I was left to ponder. Who were my parents? Why didn't they want me? After taking a quick shower, and getting dressed, I grabbed my backpack, and headed downstairs. Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert were down there, reading the newspaper and doing the dishes.

“Good morning, Eric.”

“It's Shadow.”

The two parents sighed as I grabbed a container of orange juice and shoved it into my bag.

“Eric...we need to talk,” said Mrs. Gilbert.

“What about? The fact that you lied to me all these years? What about the no secrets rule? Oh, wait that only applies to the children, I suppose.”

I headed for the door. Mr. Gilbert called out.

“We're not finished here, Eric.”

“We are. I'm not Eric. I'm not your son. I never was. I'm not coming home tonight. Don't wait up.”

I stormed out and slammed the door. Deciding to skip school, I headed down to the Marina where my surfboard and my jet ski waited. Quickly pulling off my shirt, I climbed onto the jet ski and took off, the water rippling behind me. Then I heard a voice.

“Cleo! Cleo!”

I groaned inwardly. It was Zane. The most selfish and most irritating person this side of the world. I pulled into a empty dock space, and was just about to tie off when Zane pushed Cleo out the dock on his small inflatable dingy. The engine cover was off and the engine wasn't functioning. Feeling anger, I started the engine of my jet ski and zoomed towards Zane. I pulled the power and slid to a stop, nearly splashing Zane. He and his buddy jumped back.

“Hey. You nearly crashed into me, Eric. Why don't you look were you're going?”

“And why don't you be more nice to people? Zane, tell me. Do you know that if you treat others the way you want to be treated you usually get what you want? Do you know what that's called? Karma!”

I revved the power and sprayed Zane and his buddy in a shower of sea water before speeding off.

“And by the way, the name is Shadow!”

Just then I heard Cleo scream as Rikki and Jenna jumped on board. I zoomed ahead and caught up with the boat.

“Hey, Jenna. Rikki.”

Jenna blushed at the sound of my voice and tucked a bang behind her ear..

“H..Hey, Shadow.”

“Finally. Somebody gets my name right.”

Rikki raised an eyebrow.

“I thought your name was Eric?”

“Not anymore. So..what did you to Zane's boat?”

“I stole the spark plug.”

Cleo gasped.

“You stole it?”

Rikki smiled as she held up the spark plug and went over to reinstall it.

“Zane Bennett's a pig. Anything me and Jenna can do to get under his skin can't be a bad thing, can it?

Once Rikki reinstalled the spark plug, they started the dingy and sped off. After splashing Zane once more, we headed out to sea before turning into one of the canals. Just then Cleo called out.

“Hey, Emma! Want a ride?”

“There's already three people on that dinghy. There's a limit. And are you even licensed?”

Rikki scoffed.

“Are you my mother?

Jenna smiled.

“That's okay. I can ride with Shadow.”

Rikki shook her head.

“Absolutely not. Plus, you don't have a life jacket.”

“I'll be fine, Sis.”

I backed up the jet ski, so it was along side the dinghy.

“Climb on, Jenna.”

Jenna did so as Emma climbed into the dinghy. Soon, we were off. A couple hours later, we ran into a problem. The dinghy ran out of fuel. I was running low as well.

“I'm almost out of fuel too. I don't think I can go back for help. Not without running out of fuel.”

“Do you two feel like paddling for that island?” asked Rikki.

Jenna and I looked ahead. We were completely shocked. I turned to look at Rikki.

“You want to go there? To Mako Island? Forget it.”

Cleo began to explain that no one goes to Mako Island as it was surrounded by sharks. Rikki sighed.

“Well. It's all we got.”

She handed Emma a paddle before grabbing one for herself, and they began to paddle. I gently pushed the power of the jet ski with Jenna clutching her arms around my toned abdomen nervously. I whispered to her.

“Hey. We'll be okay.”

Soon, we landed on the island as the sun was starting to set. My jet ski had finally run out of fuel. Jenna and I climbed off as Rikki, Emma, and Cleo pulled the dinghy ashore. I walked over to them.

“So..how do we get home?”

Emma scoffed.

“Good question, Eric. Ask Rikki.”

Rikki was indignant.

“Don't put this on me.”

“Oh, it was someone else's fault.”

I facepalmed.

“Enough. We're not getting off of this rock just by standing around and arguing. Look..maybe the dinghy has flares? We can use those. Someone is bound to be out there and they can find us with them.”

I went over to the dinghy and sighed.

“Okay. No flares. What kind of idiot doesn't put flares in they're boat? Spoiled rich brat.”

Emma pulled out her cell.

“I can get a signal.”

“A cell phone, Em? Really?”

“Of course..wait..I don't have any signal. We should try to get to higher ground.”

Emma and Cleo went off, and Rikki, Jenna and I followed. As we continued through the dense forest we stumbled upon a small waterfall.

“Mind your step,” said Emma. “It's pretty slick.”

She jumped to another rock and Rikki followed next. Cleo stopped.

“I can't do this. It's too slippery. There's got to be another way.”

Just then Cleo slipped and fell down a hole. We quickly scrambled towards it, and called Cleo's name.

“I'm okay. I'm fine.” she called.

“Can you climb up,” asked Emma.

“I can't. It's too steep.”

“I got to go down and get her.”

Rikki gasped at Emma.

“Are you crazy?”

Emma ignored her and slid down the hole. Suddenly, Rikki jumped in after her. Suddenly, Jenna and I could hear arguing at the bottom. I turned to Jenna.

“Go down. Tell them I'm going to find a vine or something to pull them up.”

Jenna nodded and slid down. As I turned away, a piece of the rock I was standing on gave way, and I slid down the hole. I closed my eyes tightly. As I felt myself stop, I heard Emma's voice.

“What are you doing down here? I thought you were going to get a vine or something.”

“I was..” I sat up groaning. “I slipped though. Where are we?”

“Some sort of cave. We need to get out of here.”

I nodded slowly.

“Okay. As soon as my stomach settles.”

Soon, we were feeling are way through the darkness. As we continued, my head began to pound and I felt dizzy.

“Shadow..Shadow!”

“What?”

“Are you okay?”

Jenna had her hand on my shoulder.

“Yeah...I..I'm fine.”

We continued on and I gasped. It was the pool. The pool from my nightmares. But the girls didn't notice my nervousness. As they were checking the pool out, Emma noticed something.

“Look, tidal rings. The level of the pool rises and falls.”

Rikki shrugged.

“So?”

“So, it's connected to the ocean. There might be a way out.”

Emma dove into the pool and swam out. Minutes ticked by before Emma returned. She surfaced and turned to us.

“I was right. It's about a twenty second swim to the reef outside. Straight through. Plenty of room. It'll fit all of us.”

Cleo didn't want to go. She couldn't swim. Jenna, and I dove in. As Rikki talked with Cleo about getting in, I felt the water differently. It didn't tingle like normal. This was different. Something was wrong. As Cleo climbed in, the water began to bubble and glow. We looked up and saw the moon shine it's light into the pool. Sparkles of light surrounded us and floated upwards. Emma turned to us.

“Now concentrate and follow me.”

She dove under the water and swam out of the tunnel. Rikki and Cleo went next followed by Jenna, but I stayed behind and watched the bubbles of the pool dissipate, and the water returning to normal. Even the weird tingly feeling was gone. Shaking my head at the weirdness of the night, I dove under the water, and swam out. I surfaced only to be met by the Water Police. The girls were already on board, and waiting for me.

“Come on, Shadow!” called Jenna.

I glanced behind me and stared at the moon over Mako Island before making my way to the boat. The next morning, I left early and met up with Jenna at our sea side hideout. She was waiting for me, surfboard in hand.

“Hey. You ready?”

I put down my board and kissed her. Breaking the kiss I smiled.

“Hey, anytime. Did you..?”

“No, I didn't tell Rikki we're dating.”

“Jenna..I'm sick of the secrets. I don't know how much longer I can keep this one. They're gonna find out. Rikki is gonna find out. And she'll kill me.”

“She's not gonna find out. Now come on.”

I sighed and grabbed my board. We quickly hit the surf, but ten seconds later. Everything changed. Bubbles surrounded us and we looked down. Our legs had been replaced with tails. We quickly dove under the water, and quickly swam back, hopefully without anyone seeing us. Later we met up with Emma, and Rikki at Cleo's house.

“It was orange, and covered in scales,” said Cleo.

“I was a fish when I touched the water when I went swimming this morning,” replied Emma.

Rikki shook her head.

“I was water for a second.”

Jenna was shocked at what happened.

“What happened to us?”

Rikki looked around.

“Is anyone else here?”

Cleo shook her head.

“No, dad's at work. And Mom took my sister shopping.”

Emma sighed.

“What happened to us?”

Rikki sat down.

“About ten seconds after we touch water, we grow these..”

I spoke up.

“Tails. And they vanish when we're dry. What color were yours? What did you look like? Jenna had a orange tail and a matching bikini top.”

Rikki raised an eyebrow.

“Wait, why were you with Jenna?”

“He's been teaching me to surf, Rikki. It's nothing.”

Rikki stared at us before speaking.

“I had the same thing. Orange tail and matching top. Cleo? Emma?”

They nodded.

“Yes.”

Cleo looked over at me.

“What about you?”

“Me? Mine was red...like..something on rag doll. But I was shirtless still. This doesn't make any sense. We look like...”

Rikki smiled.

“Mermaids.”

I spluttered.

“What? Why mermaids? For you four, yeah, the name works, but..I'm a guy. So that makes me...”

Rikki smiled even wider.

“A merman!”

Emma groaned.

“I told you before. It's not funny. We can't be mermaids, and he can't be a merman. Mermaids or mermen don't exist. That's just too weird.”

Suddenly, someone knocked on the front door. Cleo groaned.

“Oh, no. It's Lewis. I forgot. He's helping me with biology today.”

“Cleo!,” he called.

Lewis entered the house.

“Cle..oh. Oh...Did I get the time wrong?”

“No, we said nine. But sorry, Lewis, something has come up.”

“Like what?”

“Just something important.”

Cleo looked over at us and we shook our heads. I inwardly gagged. I wasn't going to let Lewis experiment on me or the girls. Especially Jenna.

Cleo turned back to Lewis.

“But...not so important that you need to know about it.”

She quietly led him to the front door.

“Sorry, Lewis. I have to cancel.”

“Oh, okay. Maybe some other time?”

As Lewis went to the door, Cleo stopped him.

“Lewis...You're smart. Do you know anything about mermaids?”

I facepalmed. She did not just do that.

Lewis sighed.

“No, not really.”

I let out a breath of air that I didn't know I was holding. Cleo sighed.

“Okay, sorry. Bye.”

She sent him out the door. Emma, Rikki, Jenna, and I stood up.

“What?” asked Cleo.

Rikki repeated the question Cleo asked Lewis.

“Do you know anything about mermaids? Are you crazy?”

Emma sighed.

“Cleo, this is really serious. If anyone found out about this, we could be in big trouble.”

I rubbed the bridge of my nose.

“Emma's right. We could be arrested or worse. Experimented on. I really don't want to be a 5th Grader science project.”

“I just thought Lewis could help. He's our friend.”

Jenna smiled sadly.

“Look we don't know how or why this happened to us. We can't tell anyone.”

Rikki smiled.

“You know there's a way we could find out more?”

I crossed my arms.

“You can't be serious. Go back into the water?”

“Yep.”

Emma sighed.

“I hate to say it, but Rikki's right. Cleo you coming with?”

“No way.”

She stood up and walked away.

Rikki smiled at Jenna.

“You coming, sis?”

“Sure. Shadow?”

I groaned.

“I'm so gonna regret this.”

But I was wrong. We went to the secret seaside hideout and dove in. I waited for about ten seconds and felt a slight tingle before my bright red tail appeared. Rikki, Emma, and Jenna followed suit and we swam around, getting used to our new appendages. I was enjoying every second of it. After we dried off, we headed back to Emma's house. Just then we heard Cleo.

“Wait! You will never believe what just happened.”

She dragged us inside. Inside Emma's room, she showed us what had happened. She could control water.

“You have powers over water?”

“Yeah. And it grows even more.”

Rikki was confused.

“Where's the extra water coming from?”

Cleo dropped her hand.

“I don't know.”

However when she dropped her hand, the water fell. Emma reacted and put her hand up. It froze solid.

“Em..you can freeze water.”

Rikki was ecstatic.

“Okay. This is over the top. I'm getting tingles now.”

Emma sighed.

“All I did was...”

She pushed her hand forward, and the water in a jar for some flowers froze solid. Rikki flicked her fingers out like Spider-Man. She tried different things but nothing happened.

“It's not fair. Why don't I get to do all the cool stuff?”

Cleo turned to Rikki.

“I don't think cool is the word. What can you do, Jenna?”

Jenna closed her eyes. Suddenly, thunder cracked outside. Standing up, I pulled Emma's curtains back. It was raining.

“Jenna. Stop.”

Jenna did and the rain was gone.

“Do it again.”

She did and the rain started again. Soon, she stopped.

“Okay. Jenna can make it rain.”

Emma looked at me.

“What can you do, Eric?”

“It's Shadow. Why do you insist on calling me Er..”

Suddenly, all of the light bulbs in the room exploded with a loud pop. Everyone looked at me and giggled. Except Emma.

“This is not funny. We got to keep this as a secret. From everyone. We could end up dissected or in the circus or something.”

“So this secret..” replied Cleo. “It's just between the five of us?”

Emma nodded.

“Our secret. Our responsibility. Whatever happens, we're in this together.”

Rikki groaned.

“It doesn't mean we're married, does it?”

Emma chuckled softly.

“Now that was actually funny.”

All of five of us smiled.


	2. Pool Party

Location: The Gilbert's Household, Time: A few days after the full moon

Shadow's POV

It had been a few days since the girls and I were transformed into fish. I still couldn't get the idea of being a merman wrapped around my brain. I couldn't surf anymore because of this huge secret. Emma couldn't even swim for the swim team anymore. The Gilbert's were worried about us. Not that I cared. But as I soaked in the bath, staring at my bright red tail, I decided to face the music. I drained the water and grabbed the nearby towel, and dried myself off, my legs returning. Climbing out of the tub, I got dressed and headed downstairs, grabbing my backpack on the way down. Mrs. Gilbert was there doing the morning dishes.

“Listen..can..can we talk?”

She nodded.

“What do you want to know?”

“How did you...?”

“You want to know who your birth parents are. All adopted children are curious about it, Eric..uh..I mean Shadow..”

“Eric's fine. Shadow's just a nickname. But if you call me Eric it's fine. I don't mind.”

“Right..” Mrs. Gilbert looked puzzled at my change of mood before continuing. “The truth is..I don't know anything about your parents. Neither does your adoptive father. All I know is you were found on the beach. You were only an hour or so old. You had a pocket watch around your neck.”

“A pocket watch? Do you have it?”

Mrs. Gilbert nodded and went upstairs before returning with a small watch. It was no ordinary watch however. It looked custom. She handed it to me.

“It looks custom.”

“It is,” she replied. “I never opened it. Believe me, I tried. I took it to a jeweler to see if he could get it open, but he said the sand jammed the unlocking mechanism and he didn't know how to fix it.”  
But as I pressed the button to unlock it, it clicked and opened. Mrs. Gilbert was shocked.

“Well, would you look it that. I guess it wasn't jammed after all.”

She went back to cleaning the dishes as I looked into it. Inside was a clock with it's hour, minute and second hand frozen at 3:00. I didn't know if that was PM or AM, but what caught my attention was a small piece of folded paper inside. As I headed out the door, I unfolded the paper, and saw that it was a small note. This is what it said.

“My sweet baby boy. I'm so sorry I had to give you up so soon after you were born. You would have been in danger if I continued to raise you. One day you will understand why I gave you your best chance. And one day, I will see you again. I will never forget you. Love always, Your Mother, Shona.”

I sucked in a deep breath and tucked the note in my pocket. Tears were forming around my eyes. Quickly rubbing them away, I headed down the street to Cleo's house to meet up with the girls before school. Cleo groaned from inside the bathroom as she stepped back into her bedroom.

“This is a catastrophe of the highest order. Moisturizer is mainly water.”

Rikki was staring at the ceiling and was in thinking mode. She had really taken the whole sprouting a tail thing quite well. Jenna went with swimming with her almost every morning since we changed. I only went once, but now I felt reluctant to go. I was found on the beach and was only an hour or so old when I was found. Was my mother a...mermaid? I shook my head at the thought. They were more plausible theories as to why my mother wasn't found. From the little note I found in the pocket watch, it sounded as if she was in trouble. But why didn't she go to the police? Or drop me off at a hospital? Plus it sounded like she loved me too. Parents who love their children and want/need to give them up, but want to give them their best chance don't leave them on secluded beaches.

Emma's voice brought me out of my thoughts.

“Eric, what do you think?” asked Emma.

“What? Think about what?”

“Should we tell anyone about our secret?”

“No. It's a bad idea. We could be locked up. I can't stress this enough.”

I rubbed my temples.

“Look. I never asked to be different. I never asked to sprout a tail when I touch water or have powers over electricity.”

I began to cry softly. Jenna put her hand on my shoulder.

“Shadow, what's wrong?”

I opened the pocket watch and handed the small note to Jenna. She unfolded it and read it.

“Emma..is this your mother's writing?”

She handed it to Emma.

“No..and who's Shona? Wait..”Your Mother?” Eric...is this from your birth mom?”

I nodded.

“I think so. But it doesn't make any sense.”

As I looked down sadly, I felt Emma gently put her hand on my shoulder. I looked up. She smiled.

“Hey. You're still my little brother. Even though you're only a few months younger then me. We can find out more. Maybe we can find something on the internet?”

“I guess we can try that.”

Emma smiled before turning back to everyone else.

“We're all in this together, and we tell no one about this. We keep it a secret from everyone else.”

The other three girls nodded. Cleo smiled.

“Can I tell Lewis about the fact that we're..”

Rikki shook her head.

“No, Cleo. Not Lewis, not our parents, not anyone.”

“Ok, ok. No worries. I'm really good at keeping secrets. ”

I frowned.

“Somehow that doesn't make me feel any better.”

Soon, the five of us headed off to school. After classes we're over, we were walking home. Cleo was talking to Emma, and Rikki about Miriam, the blond bombshell brat's, party while Jenna and I stayed behind them.

I sighed deeply.

“Miriam's throwing a pool party. I was invited, but I'm not going to go.”

“I'm not either. We could get wet. Then our secret's exposed.”

I stopped and took Jenna's hand.

“Yeah. Listen, I was wondering if..we could go for a swim to Mako Island later?”

“Why?”

“I feel like I could get some answers to who my mother is out there. I don't know what it is, but my gut is telling me that the answers are on that island.”

“What about, Emma, Cleo, and my sister?”

“They're busy dealing with not turning into fish. I don't want to add the burden of finding my mother to they're list.”

Jenna nodded.

“Okay. I'll meet you by our seaside spot after ten.”

I nodded.

“Okay.”

Emma and Rikki came over to us.

“Hey. We're gonna try to control our transformation. Do you want to come and try?”

“No. I'm good. I'm pretty much accepted this whole thing. Plus, I'm not going to the party. Me and Jenna are gonna go to the JuiceNet to get a smoothie.”

Rikki nodded.

“Okay. We'll meet you guys there later.”

Rikki, Cleo and Emma went off towards the beach, while me and Jenna headed to the JuiceNet. After getting a smoothie and grabbing several napkins, we headed over to the computers. As I began to type, the screen fizzled. My powers were acting up. I was nervous on what we would find.

“Jenna..could you?”

“Yeah.”

I stood up and she took my spot and began to type.

“What are we looking for?”

“Find an article on me. Just type “Newborn baby found on beach.”

Jenna did as told, and found several newspaper articles that were copied into almost every newspaper companies computer system. All were about me, but there was nothing on the mother. No eyewitness reports or anything.

“Jenna..try...try..police reports of anyone who was reported..d..dead or missing within in a certain amount of time. Between three in the morning and three in the morning after.”

“Why three in the morning?”

“Because the watch is stopped at three. Mrs. Gilbert was told it wasn't ticking. And it hadn't been for a while.”

Jenna did so.

“I'm sorry. There's nothing. But don't worry. We still have Mako Island for clues.”

I nodded.

“Okay.”

Later that night, I went to the seaside spot and waited on the still warm sand for Jenna. I heard footsteps behind me. Thinking it was Jenna, I turned around only to be greeted by an old lady with gray hair.

“Oh, sorry, dear. I didn't mean to spook you. What are you doing out this late at night?”

“I'm waiting for my girlfriend.”

“But there's something else isn't there? You're searching for someone. What you're searching for isn't out on Mako Island..” She pointed at me before continuing. “It's inside you. You just have to look deeper.”

I looked out to sea.

“How do you know I want to...?”

But when I turned to look back at the old lady, she was gone.

“Shadow?”

I turned back and saw Jenna surface from under the water.

“Jenna?”

“Come on. We need to go. Rikki is gonna kill me if I don't get back home before she or dad wakes up.”

I nodded and pulled off my shirt, diving into the water. My tail formed a few seconds later, and we sped off towards Mako Island. But what the old lady said to me burned in my mind. A few hours later, we swam home, finding no clues to the identity of my mother. After pulling ourselves back onto land, and drying our tails off, I escorted Jenna back to her home, then I went back to the Gilbert's. I climbed into my window and shut it behind me, and flopped onto my bed. I was out within seconds.

The next morning, I slept in for a few hours, but then my phone buzzed. I picked it up. It was text from Emma.

“Cleo's gone to the pool party. She might be in danger. Meet us at Miriam’s.”

I blinked and fell out of bed in shock. I quickly opened my window and climbed out, leaving my shoes behind me. When I arrived, I was greeted by a shocking sight. Cleo was in her mermaid form in the pool, and Lewis was trying to pull her out. Rikki, Emma and Jenna arrived behind me.

“Where is everyone?” asked Emma.

“They're inside.”

Emma and I quickly ran to the patio door of the house. She quickly froze the door shut. As we ran back, Lewis turned to the four of us.

“Can you guys give me a hand? She weighs a ton.”

Emma sighed.

“We can't.”

Lewis looked at us. Rikki frowned before speaking.

“If we get wet...”

“We'll grow tails too.” finished Jenna.

I crossed my arms.

“Is that what you want?”

Lewis's eyes widened.

“The four of you? All of you?”

Lewis looked down at Cleo and she nodded.

“Seriously?”

Lewis grunted and pulled Cleo onto the side of the pool.

“I should have joined the gym.”

Cleo groaned.

“What are we going to do?”

Rikki walked forward.

“Get back, Lewis.”

Lewis did as told and Rikki put her hand over Cleo's tail and closed it into a fist. Steam began to rise up around Cleo's tail as Rikki moved her hand down the length of it. Soon, her tail was gone and her legs returned.

Rikki smiled.

“There you go. Fin gone.”

Jenna hugged her sister.

“You found your power.”

Lewis meanwhile was freaked out.

“Guys, what is going on?”

Emma ran over to us.

“We'll explain later, Lewis.”

We helped Cleo to her feet and ran out of the backyard. Later after we explained what had happened to us, we sat at Lewis's secret fishing spot.

Jenna was leaning against my chest, and I had my arm wrapped around her. Rikki had know about us the whole time, but she was okay with it. Well..mostly.

Rikki was talking to Lewis.

“This probably goes without saying, but if you tell, we maim you. And if you hurt my sister, Shadow, I will burn you.”

“I got it.”

Lewis sighed.

“And I'm not that stupid. If anybody found out, you'd end up as science experiments.”

Emma sighed sadly.

“I quit the swim team today.”

Cleo felt sorry for Emma.

“Oh, Emma. I know how much that means to you.”

“Still, what can I do?”

“This whole thing is just out of control.”

I nodded.

“It's too big for the five of us.”

Lewis spoke up.

“Let me get this straight. Emma can freeze things, Cleo can explode things, Rikki can boil things, Jenna can control the weather, and you have power over electricity? And you all grow tails. It's just too bizarre.”

Jenna sat up.

“Bizarre? Yep. Still sometimes it's good.”

“And sometimes it's not so good,” replied Emma.

Cleo sighed.

“It's..it's...I don't know the word for it.”

Rikki smiled.

“I do. Three of them. Totally, absolutely awesome.”

The five of us smiled, except Cleo. As we looked out to sea and the setting sun, we knew our adventures had only begun.


	3. Party Girls

Location: Mako Island, The Moon Pool, Time: A Week after the events of Catch of the Day

Shadow's POV

It had been a week since Cleo had accepted that she was a mermaid, and decided that she wasn't going to hide from water for the rest of her life. She stopped a fisherman who was hunting sea turtles, but was caught in a fishing net, and had to be rescued by Emma and Rikki. Eventually, he fired by his boss, Cleo's dad, and was arrested by the police. A couple days ago, Jenna and Cleo got a job at the Dolphin Tank at the Marine Park. I wasn't too thrilled with Jenna working there, but she trusted Cleo and so I put my trust in her. 

While they did that, I studied rocks and their chemical makeup, trying to see if any rock triggered our transformations. As I was inside the Moon Pool cave studying the structure, a ripple of water caught my attention, and I turned around to see Emma surfacing.

“Hey, Em.”

“Hey, Eric. Check out what I found.”

She placed the object onto a nearby rock, and I picked it up with a towel, studying it carefully.

“Is this a locket?”

“Yeah. It was at the bottom of the pool. Where do you think it came from?”

“Hold on a second.”

I pulled my pocket watch out of my bag and looked at it, carefully. It had the same etching of waves on the back, and a small gemstone near the chain.

“Emma..both are identical. Look.”

I placed my watch and the locket in front of her flipping them over.

“Different shape, but the same etching on the back, and different gemstones. The locket has..I think that's a sapphire gemstone. And mine is Aquamarine. That's what the jeweler said when I took it to him to see if he could get the watch to work again.”

Emma looked at my watch, then the locket.

“Maybe whoever owned the locket, knows or knew your birth mom. Come on. We got to show this to the rest of the girls.”

I nodded and put the watch and the locket into my bag, before placing it on my back and jumping into the pool. Emma came up from behind me and sped away, racing back towards land. I flicked my tail and off I went in a cloud of bubbles. Soon, we were back home. Lewis and Rikki came over to run some tests.

Lewis inspected the locket.

“Looks like a normal necklace to me.”

He handed the locket it back to Emma.

“Whatever was in it is long gone, but, I found at the bottom of the moon pool. It's got to be important,” she said.

I crossed my legs.

“Yeah, it even has the same kind of design as my pocket watch. Something tells me that it's not a coincidence.”

Lewis turned to look at me, a shocked look on his face.

“Wait, wait. It has the same design as your pocket watch?”

“Yeah, I just said that.”

“Let me see it.”

I handed him the watch, and Emma handed him the locket.

“What on Earth?”

I waved my hand in front of Lewis face.

“What?”

“The watch and the locket. Both of them are vibrating.”

Rikki looked over.

“Vibrating?”

“Yeah. Here.”

Lewis handed the watch back to me.

“Alright now, bring them closer together.”

I did as told and sure enough, I felt vibration. It was small, but it was there.

“How..how is that possible?”

Lewis shook his head.

“I don't know. I'll have to run some tests later..”

“No, no, noooo! You are not running tests on the one thing I have let of my mother, Lewis McCartney.”

Emma tapped me on my shoulder.

“Eric..your powers...”

I snapped out of staring at Lewis and saw the lights were flickering dangerously. I closed my eyes and breathed. The lights stopped flickering.

“Sorry. I need to get better control of that. Just haven't found anything to experiment on.”

Lewis looked thoughtful for a second before replying.

“How about power generators? Like small portable ones? We could go out to the desert and try it out?”

I shrugged as I took the watch back.

“Let me try something. Can you get a bucket of water?”

Lewis nodded and ran downstairs, excited at the idea to test Eric's powers. Soon, he returned with a bucket. I took a deep breath.

“Okay. Here goes..”

I put my hand over the bucket and started to close my fist. Crackling sounds were heard from the water. Lewis gasped.

“You can electrify water. Oh, this is amazing. Electric eels can use their natural ability to use electricity under water. Maybe you can too. And this also slightly dangerous, so could you...”

I relaxed my hand and the crackling stopped. Lewis reached out to touch the bucket, but got a shock.

“Ow.”

I winced.

“Sorry..”

Emma took Lewis downstairs to bandage him up while Rikki and I plundered his backpack.

“What are these?”

We pulled out spray bottles of different liquids inside.

“Was he going to experiment on us with liquids?”

Rikki frowned.

“Oh, I'm glad you shocked him then.”

Picking up a red bottle, I sprayed a bit on my arm. Ten seconds later, and no tail formed.

I smiled with realization.

“Oh...he was seeing which liquids wouldn't turn us into fish.”

I sniffed my arm.

“Vegetable oil? Well...we can check that off the list.”

Rikki rolled her eyes and continued to paint her nails. Meanwhile Lewis and Emma returned.

Emma smiled.

“You didn't shock him that bad. It is red though. It'll be that way for a while.”

I shrugged and Lewis went back to testing the liquids. Just then Emma's phone rang.

“It's mom.”

She answered it. As her mother talked, I heard snippets about the conversation which had to deal with the sleepover party that we had every year.

“Yeah..I really don't think so, mom. Okay. Love you.”

As she hung up, Lewis turned to her.

“Was that the party again?”

Rikki perked up.

“What party?”

I smiled.

“Every year, Emma's mom throws this party for her...”

Emma interrupted me.

“Only, this year it's not happening. Can't have heaps of people, drinks spilling, and tails appearing.”

Rikki spoke up.

“When was this party supposed to be?”

“Tonight.”

“Tonight? I hope I would have been invited.”

Emma sighed.

“It's not really your scene.”

Rikki scoffed and looked at Emma.

“Party, me. Those words are welded together.”

Emma looked down and Rikki turned away.

“Ah, you don't want me there. Is that it?”

Emma sighed.

“Of course, I do.”

Lewis spoke up.

“So, the party's on?”

“No, it's not.”

“Pity. Would have been great,” replied Rikki. “Boys, dancing, boys.”

I frowned.

“It's not really that type of party, Rikki.”

“What do you mean?”

“It's a sleepover.”

Just then Lewis sprayed the three of us with a green spray bottle.

“Lewis!”

I quickly dried off my arms as did Emma. Rikki ignored what had happened and stared at the both of us.

“So..a sleepover? Wow, that is so neat-o. I wish I hadn't painted my nails. We could have painted them together. Then we could have a pillow fight, and pull each other's...”

But Rikki didn't say anymore as her entire body turned to bubbles before she reappeared with her tail.

“...hair..”

Lewis wrote in his notebook.

“That one had a thirty-two percent water content.”

Emma asked if Rikki was okay, sarcastically.

“Fine. Thanks, Lewis.”

She waved her hand at him sarcastically, before she used her powers to dry her tail. Later we met up with Cleo and Jenna at the JuiceBar.

“That old woman knows something.”

“Like what?” asked Rikki.

“We don't know, but she knew it was dangerous to get water on ourselves.”

Emma freaked.

“You got water on yourselves?”

Cleo shrugged.

“Only a drop. We wiped it straight off. Nothing happened. We took precautions. We can do this job.”

“And I told you we should have discussed this farther.”

Jenna crossed her arms.

“And what would that have proved? You're just scared.”

Emma was indignant.

“No, I'm not.”

“Yes, you are,” replied Cleo. “Scared for us, and too scared to have your own party. Well, we're not living like that anymore, Emma. We're not going to be scared of every drop of water we see. Right, Jenna?”

“Yep.”

Rikki smiled.

“As crazy as it sounds, I agree with Cleo and Jenna. Just this once.”

Jenna smiled at me.

“Eric?”

“Yeah. I agree with Jenna.”

I kissed her forehead gently. Just then Cleo noticed the locket around Emma's neck.

“Wow, where did you get that?”

Emma looked over at Cleo.

“The Moon Pool at Mako Island.”

“It's beautiful.”

Emma pulled out her phone and opened it. She dialed a number.

“Hi, mom. I need you to start texting the invitations. Yes, all the girls on the list, plus Rikki.”

She hung up the phone. I fist pounded the air.

“Yes. Party!”

Emma smiled.

“Cleo's right. If I don't have this party, it's like I'm not even putting up a fight.”

Just then Zane came over and gave us a tray of smoothies.

“Free, frozen cones.”

“What about them,” asked Rikki.

“You look thirsty.”

I took a sniff.

“It's prune juice. Don't drink it.”

But it was too late. Cleo and Jenna had already taken a sip and coughed at the taste. Zane laughed at them, and I felt my powers bubble in rage. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, before speaking to Zane.

“Real mature, Zane. Real mature.”

Suddenly, everyone's phones started to buzz and ring as text messages came in, saying that Emma was having her party. Later that evening, we were setting everything up. Drinks were served in colorful water bottles. But Emma was worried.

“Are you sure people are going to go for these?”

Cleo nodded.

“Sure. People will love them. Individual bottles, and any spillage contained.”

I went over to an end table and picked up some towels.

“And these?”

“Just say Emma's mom was doing the washing.”

I shrugged.

“Alright.”

Just then Mrs. Gilbert came downstairs and gasped.

“Oh, the room looks great! Don't worry, I'm not going to hang around. There's sushi for starters. We got soy and tofu. Burgers for mains. And you might want to think about putting away those towels, eh?”

Emma smiled.

“Thanks, mom.”

Just then a knock on the door was heard. Mrs. Gilbert gasped in excitement.

“Oh, I'll make myself scarce. Have fun.”

Emma went to the front door and opened it.

“Hey, come in. Right on time.”

Everyone who was invited came into the house, and greeted each other. I kissed Jenna's cheek as she came into the house. Soon, the party was going full blast. Just then Zane and Miriam entered the house even though they weren't invited. I groaned.

“Em, I'm gonna go to my room. I got homework to do.”

“Alright, Eric. See you later.”

I headed upstairs to work on my homework. A couple minutes later, I heard a hair dryer in the bathroom across the hall. I quietly exited my bedroom and knocked on the door.

“It's Eric. Anybody in there?”

Emma's voice came through the door.

“Cleo got water on her. Drying her clothes.”

Taking that as code for Cleo sprouted a tail, I replied.

“Okay, Em. I'll be in my room if you need me. Also, I need to talk to Jenna. Can you send her up here when your done?”

“Yep.”

I went back to my room. A few minutes later, a knock was heard on my door.

“Eric?”

It was Jenna.

“Come in.”

Jenna came into the room and shut the door behind her.

“Jenna..you were right to get the job at the marine park with Cleo. Emma wouldn't have had this party had you and Cleo were not able to convince her. And you convinced me that you can do this job. I'm proud of you.”

“I love you, Eric.”

“I love you too.”

I gently kissed her forehead, and I gasped.

“I almost forgot.”

I grabbed my backpack and pulled out a small box.

“I got this for you. Happy early birthday.”

Jenna opened the box.

“Is this..a locket?”

“Yeah, I bought it the other day when I took my pocket watch down to the shop. Wait a minute. Can I see it for a moment?”

She gave me the locket.

“No way. It's the same design as the locket Emma found. Except with an Emerald gemstone.”

Jenna looked thoughtful.

“Could they be part of the same set?”

“I think it's possible. Come on. We have to show the rest of the girls.”

“Wait. Put it on me?”

“Sure.”

She moved her hair out of the way and I put the locket around her neck.

“There.”

Jenna turned around and gave me a kiss.

“Thank you so much.”

“Hey. Anything for the love of my life.”

Soon, we headed downstairs and found Rikki, Cleo, and Emma with Emma's locket.

“Hey, guys. What's up?”

“Miriam tried to steal the locket.”

“Should we tell everyone?”

Rikki shook her head.

“No. Like she said, it's my word against hers.”

Cleo sighed.

“We should join the party.”

Rikki frowned.

“I'm thinking not. It's not really my scene.”

Just then a girl spoke up.

“Hey, Emma. Which guy on the swimming team has the cutest legs?”

Emma looked over.

“Cutest legs? Umm, Sam.”

Rikki was shocked.

“No way. Joshua, buddy.”

Another girl called us over.

“Come on. We're voting the perfect guy out of the guys on the swim team.”

Emma smiled.

“What do you reckon, Rikki? We spend our whole time talking about negative splits?”

“There might be something normal about these chicks after all.”

Rikki stood up and hopped over to the group. Emma held up the locket.

“This might be safer with you, Cleo.”

“With me? You found it.”

“And I nearly managed to get it stolen. I know how much you like it. Here.”

Cleo took the locket.

“You sure?”

“Anyone who can hide a mermaid tail in the middle of a party, has got what it takes to look after that. Come on.”

Cleo and Emma went over to the group and Jenna put her head against my chest.

I smiled.

“We'll tell them about the locket tomorrow.”

Jenna snuggled into my embrace.

“Okay.”

Location: Marine Park, Time: Next Day

Jenna's POV

Cleo and I were back at work at the Marine Park. As we carried buckets of fish to the dolphins, our boss passed us.

“Oh, keep up the good work, you two. Both of you are starting to fit in around here.”

We said our thanks, and continued to walk, but stopped when we saw the old lady that gave us the towels to prevent our tails from sprouting when we accidentally got wet yesterday. We put down our buckets and went over to her. As we got closer to her, she smiled, but then her smile changed to a look of shock as she saw Cleo's locket.

“You found it. In the pool, didn't you? On Mako Island? That's where Gracie lost it, fifty years ago.”

Then she looked at me.

“Oh, and Natalie's locket..where did you find it?”

I spoke softly.

“My boyfriend found it. He bought it for me for my birthday. So you mean your...”

“I'm sixty-five years old, yes. But I don't look any older then sixty-eight, right?”

“That's not what we meant...”

“I know what you two mean, even if you don't. What's your names again?”

Cleo spoke.

“Cleo.”

“I'm Jenna.”

“You both got spirit, Cleo and Jenna. Enjoy it, enjoy it all you can. You and your friends. Maybe..you'll be all right. Enjoy.”

She turned and walked away. I called out to her.

“Wait! Don't go! What do you mean?”

The lady glanced back and smiled before continuing to walk away, leaving us in a state of bewilderment.


	4. Young Love

Location: Tropical Plant Farm, Time: A week after the events of Something Fishy.

Eric's POV

It had been a week since Kim found Cleo's diary and almost proved we were merpeople. Thankfully, our secret was safe and life continued on normally. Well..as normal as it could get when you sprout a tail after touching water. Me, Emma, Rikki, and Elliot were trying to find our way through the thick jungle leaves of Lewis's brother, Lenny's, tropical plant farm.

Elliot smiled.

“This place is cool.”

“I will admit it is pretty cool, Elliot.”

Elliot and I had grown apart when I found out I was adopted, but I started to warm up to him once more, and we still acted like brothers.

Emma called out for Lewis, and then Lenny appeared.

“Your Emma? This way.”

Lenny turned and headed off one way. Emma called to us.

“Rikki, Eric. This way.”

Emma headed off and we quickly followed, not realizing we had left Elliot behind. We arrived at a table in a clearing where Lewis was building something together.

“Your friends are here,” said Lenny.

Lewis looked over.

“Guys, great. You got the stuff.”

Rikki sighed.

“Yes, I hope you guys pay us for all of this, Lewis.”

“Only with my firm friendship.”

Lenny looked around the watering system.

“Is this going to work, Lewis?”

“Sure, it is, Lenny, of course.”

Emma looked at Lenny.

“So this is Lenny?”

Lewis gasped.

“Oh, what, you haven't met? Lenny, the guys. The guys, Lenny, my brother, second oldest.”

Rikki smiled.

“How many brothers have you got?”

“Four,” replied Lewis. “But only one who would own a plant nursery.”

Lenny chuckled.

“And only one who would hire Lewis to fix a watering system.”

The girls and I looked around nervously as Lewis continued to talk. Thankfully none of the water systems were on, otherwise we would have a fishy problem.

“Hey, your getting a good deal here, Lenny. The whole cross-section irrigation system will be completely automated and far superior to that ancient sprinkler system up there.”

Emma spoke up.

“Okay, well, um, it seems you two have got a lot to talk about, so well be heading off.”

As we entered the plants once more, Rikki called out for Elliot.

“Elliot? Where are you?”

Elliot soon came over.

“You could hide here forever.”

I chuckled.

“Yeah, you could.”

Rikki smiled.

“Maybe you should.”

Emma took Elliot by the shoulders.

“Come on, Elliot. We've got to get you to surfing practice.”

Rikki pulled us over.

“Whoa. Wait a minute. Did you say surfing?”

Emma turned to Rikki.

“Yeah, Bryon's teaching him. He's doing really well.”

Rikki nodded, but pulled Emma back once more.

“That's great, but..aren't you forgetting something?”

“Relax, Rikki. We're not going near the water. Neither is he.”

Later we arrived at the beach, where Elliot had changed into his surfing gear as did I, but it was just for looks.

“The last few lessons are on the sand,” said Emma. “No chance of getting wet.”

Bryon came over.

“Hey, Emma, the clean up of the beach rally is starting. Are you going to come?”

“Oh, I forgot. Wait a sec.”

As Bryon went over to Elliot to teach him how to surf, Emma turned to us.

“Can you do me a really big favor? Watch Elliot for me?”

I nodded.

“Sure, sis.”

Rikki, however, shook her head.

“No, no way. It's not gonna happen.”

“Please, Rikki?”

“Sorry, I don't do kids. Just take him with you.”

Bryon turned to us.

“He needs to practice.”

He turned back to Elliot and continued to teach.

“Maybe you want to come to the clean up the beach rally,” asked Emma, sarcastically.

“No, thanks.”

“Great. It's settled. Thanks, I appreciate it.”

Emma stood up and walked towards the rally with Bryon. Rikki called out.

“Emma. I take no responsibility for anything that may or may not happen to him.”

“I trust you,” she called.

Sighing deeply, I pulled off my surfing top and laid back to tan. Elliot spoke up.

“Did you know I'm going to be a pro surfer?”

“No one said I had to talk to you,” Rikki said.

“Watch, I'll show you.”

I instantly sat up.

“Elliot. Wait.”

But Elliot ignored me and headed straight into the surf. Then there was trouble.

“Help! Someone help!”

“Elliot!”

Rikki and I dove into the water, our tails quickly forming. I flicked my tail hard, racing towards Elliot as fast as I could. Rikki swam past me and grabbed the surfboard, while I grabbed Elliot.

“Elliot calm down, little bro. I got you. Rikki's coming with your board. She'll push you to shore.”

Soon, Rikki arrived, and Elliot climbed on.

“How did you two do that?”

“Never mind that. I got to get Emma. I'll be back.”

I let the weight of my tail drag me down, and once I was deep enough, I raced away to get Emma. Later that night we were back at the Gilbert's, cleaning up the dishes. Elliot was going on about me and Rikki saving his life.

“It was like this rip came out of nowhere. I thought I'd end up in New Zealand or something. And then she was there. So was Eric. Where did you go after you saved me?”

I smiled.

“I went to go get Emma. Besides..I trust Rikki, and she got you to safety. That's all that matters.”

Emma was shocked.

“Wait a second, you saw Eric and Rikki in the water?”

“Yeah, they were unbelievable. Rikki even more so.”

“Really? Why?”

“Cause she's the faster swimmer I've ever seen. She could beat anything. Even a dolphin.”

Emma pulled me aside.

“Please tell me he didn't see your tail?” She whispered.

“He didn't. I used it like an anchor, and dropped deep before I swam away.”

“What about Rikki?”

“I'm not sure.”

Just then, the doorbell rang.

“I'll get it,” called Elliot.

I followed Elliot to the door. He opened it to find Rikki standing there.

“Rikki! Where did you go? You saved me, but then you disappeared. How did you do that?”

Rikki shrugged.

“I'm good at holding my breath. Eric, Jenna wants to meet up with you.”

I nodded.

“Alright. Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert, I'm going out. I'll be back later.”

I grabbed my jacket and headed out the door. I met Jenna at the beach.

“Hey, Jenna. What's up?”

“What's up? You go for a swim and and you ask what's up?”

“Jenna, I can explain.”

“Oh? You and my sister could have spilled out secret to Elliot.”

“Look, he didn't see anything. Would you have wanted my adoptive brother to drown, instead?”

Jenna sighed.

“No. You're right. I'm sorry..it's just..I had a nightmare last night. We got caught...as mermaids...and...you weren't there.”

She began to cry and I pulled her close.

“Hey, it was just a nightmare. It wasn't real.”

“I know..but it felt so real.”

“Hey..as long as I live, I will always be there to protect you.”

I kissed her forehead.

“Do you want me to stay with you tonight..so you can sleep?”

Jenna nodded and I took her back home. As I entered her small RV trailer, her father looked over at me.

“Eric. Wasn't expecting to see you her this late.”

Jenna looked at me.

“I'm going to get ready for bed.”

She went down the hall and into her room. I turned to her father.

“Mr. Chadwick, Jenna asked me to come over. She's been having nightmares, and in them, I'm either missing or dead is what she told me. I offered to stay the night so she can sleep knowing that I'm here if that's alright?”

“I suppose as long as you don't try anything with her.”

“I promise with all my heart, Sir.”

Mr. Chadwick nodded and headed off to his room. Jenna opened her bedroom door, and I went inside. I climbed into her bed and took her into my arms, holding her close to my chest.

“I love you, Jenna.”

“I love you too..”

“Night. I'll be here when you wake up.”

I turned off the light, and fell asleep a few minutes later. The next morning, I ate breakfast and had some coffee with Mr. Chadwick, before Jenna and I headed down to the JuiceNet, where we got a huge surprise. Elliot had a crush on Rikki. I couldn't help but snicker at Rikki's predicament. I spent the day with Jenna, and talked with her on the phone before she went to bed that night. The next day, me, and Jenna we're at the beach searching for Elliot. Apparently, he had run away after Rikki let him down hard. Her words were, “Even if you were older, taller, and less squeaky clean, I wouldn't be interested so back off and leave me alone.” Jenna was slightly disappointed with Rikki. I was fuming, but Jenna managed to calm me down.

A few minutes after we started searching, my phone rang

I answered it.

“Hello? Emma, hold on, slow down. Rikki and Elliot are what? Okay. We're on our way.”

I hung up.

“Rikki and Elliot are trapped at Lenny's Tropical Plant Farm. And the water system is about to go on.”

“We have to go.”

We rushed to the parking lot and grabbed my motorcycle racing away to the plant farm as fast as possible. Soon, we arrived. We found Lewis at the gate, trying to override the locking system.

“Let me try something, Lewis. I'm gonna try to short circuit the power.”

I held out my hand.

“Stand back.”

Lewis moved back and I started to make a fist. Sparks began to fizzle and crack underneath the keypad. Suddenly, the keypad exploded with surge of energy, throwing me back.

“Ow. Did it work?”

Lewis checked the lock.

“No!”

Rikki and Elliot arrived at the gate.

“Lewis!”

Lewis turned to Rikki.

“It's locked.”

“Locked?” yelled Rikki.

“You can't get out. I installed this yesterday. Automatic lock, unbreakable.”

“I guess we're stuck here for awhile,” said Elliot.

Just then, Emma and Cleo arrived.

“Elliot!”

Rikki nodded.

“Yep, found him, but things might turn ugly.”

Lewis checked his watch.

“Look you guys have about twenty seconds before those sprinklers start.”

Rikki sighed, then her face lit up with an idea. She pointed to a watering can.

“Cleo.”

She turned Elliot around while Cleo poured water over the lock. Emma froze the lock, and it unlocked with a crack. Rikki pushed the gate open just in time. Lewis looked at the lock sadly.

“I told Lenny that lock was going to be unbreakable. He'll sue me.”

Cleo gasped.

“Your lock? You locked them in?”

Lewis scoffed.

“It's not my fault. At closing time, it locks. It's..it's prone to breakage and I'll have to rectify that.”

Elliot turned to us.

“You guys are weird. Were you running from the water?”

Rikki nodded.

“Yeah, it's, ah, my water based mascara. It runs everywhere when it's wet.” 

Elliot blinked, before shrugging.

“Girls are weird.”  
Emma, Cleo, Rikki, and Elliot walked away as Jenna helped me to my feet.

“Are you alright?”

“After being electrocuted with about..how many volts does that lock run on Lewis?”

“Two-hundred and forty volts,” he called.

I smiled.

“I'm fine.”

Jenna hugged me.

“I'm so glad your safe. I don't know what I would do without you.”

“Like I said...I'm not going anywhere.”

I gave her a gently kiss, and took her hand, walking with her back to our ride home. But little did I know things would soon take a turn for the worse.


	5. Moon Spell

Location: The Gilbert's House, Time: A couple days after the events of “Young Love.”

Eric's POV

It had been a couple of days since we had a close call with our secret getting spilled, but everything was fine at the moment. But over the past few nights, I had been feeling a pull towards the water and Mako Island. It was weird. The girls did not seem to feel this pull, which I found strange. Pushing my thoughts aside, I continued to work on the staircase of the home. It was Mr. Gilbert's birthday today, and me and Elliot were hanging up balloons for the party.

Emma came over.

“Make sure you tie them tight. It has to be double knot.”

She stared at the colors of the balloons.

“That's wrong. We can't have black balloons.”

“Sorry,” said Elliot.

“It's a party, you two. Happy, cheerful.”

Just then Rikki, Cleo, and Jenna entered the house. Rikki gestured to the balloons.

“Welcome to my gothic world.”

Emma frowned.

“That's not funny, Rikki. It's my dad's birthday. It's an important night.”

I chuckled.

“Good joke, Rikki. Listen, I got to head to work. I'll see you later.”

I kissed Jenna goodbye, and headed down to the JuiceNet to start my new job. Later, Cleo and Jenna entered the JuiceNet and sat down, waving me over. I told my boss I was taking a small break and went to sit down.

“What's up?”

Jenna whispered to me.

“That old woman showed up again. She knows about us.”

“The fact that we're..?”

Cleo nodded.

“Yeah. She warned us about the full moon tonight. Like..we're not supposed to look at it or something. She said it's dangerous.”

I leaned back in my chair as a thoughtful look appeared on my face.

“I think she may be right. Did she say anything else?”

Jenna looked at Cleo and then back at me.

“She specifiably told me to tell you not to go to Mako Island tonight.”

“Did she say why?”

“No..”

I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose.

“Alright. I got to get back to work. I'll see you tonight at the party, right?”

“Yeah.”

The two girls stood up. I gave Jenna a kiss goodbye before getting back to work. Later that evening, the sun had just begun to set, and the moon was starting to rise. I clocked out, and headed home. By the time, I got there, the sun was gone and the full moon was high in the sky. Suddenly, I felt it. The pull to Mako and the water. Something was wrong. I shook my head and snapped out of my daze. I quickly headed inside where I was greeted by the family. I looked around and saw Jenna. She was acting weird. Cleo pulled her aside, and I went over.

“What's wrong with her?”

“I don't know.”

“I want to go swimming,” said Jenna.

“This is not good. Something is wrong.”

Then I remembered my experience.

“The moon. She must have been affected by it.”

As Cleo and I began to discuss, Rikki came over.

“Where's Emma?”

“I left her outside,” replied Cleo. “She needed some air.”

I was shocked.

“Alone? She could have been affected too!”

We quickly went outside, not realizing Jenna had slipped away. The three of us went outside to the dock.

Rikki looked down.

“Emma's new shoes.”

Cleo sighed.

“She must be in the water. This is exactly what the old woman warned us abou...”

But Cleo stopped talking and looked up at the moon, as did Rikki. Lewis came down onto the dock.

“Where's Emma? And what's wrong with Rikki and Cleo?”

I shrugged.

“I don't know. I think their under some sort of spell.”

Lewis tried to get their attention and was about to slap Rikki, but she put up her arm.

“That..would be a big mistake.”

Lewis slowly put down his arm.

“I'm terribly sorry, but you two just went extremely weird when that moon came out.”

Cleo sighed.

“This is what the old woman meant. She was trying to warn us about this.” 

“What old woman,” asked Lewis, irritatedly.

Rikki ignored Lewis and spoke up.

“That first moon at the pool on Mako Island was a full moon as well.”

Just then Emma surfaced.

“Oh. You three have to join me. Make Island is amazing at night. Jenna is here as well.”

Jenna surfaced.

“Errricccccc. Come join me. The water is amazing...”

I facepalmed.

“Oh, no. Not Jenna. Lewis, pull them out now.”

“What? Why me?”

“Well, it's obvious we can't get wet. We could fall under the same spell and then you'd have to pull us all out.”

Lewis sighed reluctantly, and bent down.

“Emma, of course will come with you and Jenna. You just, uh, take my hands and you can show me the way.”

He put down both of us hands, and Jenna and Emma pulled him in, giggling as they did it. Just then Jenna raced away as Lewis surfaced.

“Jenna! I have to go after her.”

Rikki gasped.

“Are you insane?”

“I'm the only one that doesn't seem to be affected by the moon. I have a better chance at getting her then you two do. Get Emma out, and dry her tail.”

I dove into the water, and raced away, flicking my tail hard. Soon, I arrived at Mako Island. Jenna was no where to be seen. I swam into the moon pool entrance and swam up. Another mermaid was there, but it wasn't Jenna. She seemed older, and her hair was brown with some gray streaks. But what shocked me the most was her bright red tail. Just like mine. I swam closer and spoke up.

“Excuse me. Have you seen another mermaid with blond hair and an orange tail? Seems to be in a daze?”

The mermaid turned around and stared at the watch around my neck. She began to swim closer to me and it appeared that she was studying me. Then she spoke.

“Can it be..? After all these years?”

“Um...should..I..should I know you?”

She shook her head.

“No..you were only a baby..but a mother never forgets..”

I gasped in shock, and swam away in fright. Just then Jenna swam in front of me. She quickly kissed me, and tried to pull me deeper, but I flicked my tail and pulled us to the surface.

“Jenna, snap out of it.”

“Do you not want me? Why are you resisting?”

“Because you're under a spell. This is not the Jenna that I know.”

Just then the mermaid from before appeared and blew some sand at Jenna. She tried to blink it out of her eyes, but then she slumped over.

“What did you to her?”

“I put her to sleep. She will awaken when the moon sinks. Bring her back to Mako. We have much to discuss before the sunrise.”

Gasping in confusion, I threw Jenna onto my shoulder, and swam back to Mako Island. Once back into the moon pool, I gently leaned Jenna against the edge of the pool. I turned to the mermaid.

“I want answers. Who are you?”

“I'm your mother. I've waited for you to come to Mako for so long...I was beginning to think that you weren't coming.”

“Why would you want me to come to Mako?”

“I wanted you to find your other side. I wanted to take care of my son.”

“Why did you give me up? Why did you abandon me on a beach?”

“I told you in the note. You would have been danger otherwise.”

“In danger? In danger from who?”

“Your father...”

“My father?”

Shona nodded.

“Yes. He found out what your grandmother once was, and well..he tried to kill us.. I was pregnant with you when he found out. And so I swam away. You were born here on Mako Island. I took you to land and locked your other side, so you could live a normal life, free from the grip of your father.”

“What was my grandmother? Why did my father want to hurt you and me?”

Just then Jenna began to groan.

“The sun is almost up. I have to go,” said my mom.

“Mom, wait. Will I see you again?”

“Come back tonight. I'll be here.”

She dove into the water and swam away, just as Jenna woke up.

“Why am I in the moon pool?”

“It's a long story,” I replied.

Later that day the five of us and Lewis were at the JuiceNet talking about the night before.

“I never want to go through another night like that again,” said Emma.

Lewis agreed.

“Oh, neither do we.”

Emma sighed.

“And the worse thing is not knowing exactly what I did.”

Rikk nodded.

“Oh, and it's probably best you don't know.”

Jenna took my hand.

“Did I hurt you at all last night?”

I shook my head.

“No, but you freaked me out a bit. Don't worry. I won't let it happen again.”

Jenna put her head against my chest and sighed deeply. Just then Bryon came over to Emma.

“Hey, Emma. Thanks for last night. I just want to say you have the world's best lips.”

Emma almost spit out her smoothie when he said that.

“See ya.”

Bryon walked away. Emma gasped, and turned to us.

“Lips? My lips? What's he talking about? Guys? Guys?!”

When we didn't answer, she just shrugged and smiled.


	6. Shipwrecked

Location: The Docks, Time: A few days after the second full moon, but a day before the events of Shipwrecked.

Eric's POV

It had been a month since the full moon affected Jenna and Emma. In the few weeks between then and now, Lewis almost lost a piece of our DNA to a doctor by the name of Denman. Thankfully he got the piece back and deleted Denman's research on it. A week later, we stopped a man and some people selling rare fish illegally, and experienced another full moon where Cleo was affected, and gave her an amazing singing voice which lured men to her almost like a siren. But thankfully, it didn't last long and she lost the siren song, and slowly but surely things got back to normal. I visited my mother at Mako Island after the full moon. We talked for a bit, and she told me to meet a woman named Miss Chatham. She said she could help me learn about my history. So the next morning, I headed down to the dock to talk to the harbormaster to see who Miss Chatham was.

I knocked on the door.

“Come in!” called Mr. Hendrix.

I stepped inside.

“Ah, Eric. What can I do for you today? It can't be time for payment of your mooring fee, is it?”

“No, Sir. I'm looking for someone who lives here. Her name is Miss Chatham?”

Mr. Hendrix looked at me funny.

“Are you wanting to file a complaint?”

“What? No. I just wanted to meet her. Apparently, she knew my grandmother. I was adopted by the Gilbert's. I found my biological mother the other day..and...she's died two years after I was born. I don't know much about her, and if Miss Chatham knew my grandmother, then she probably would have known my mother as well,” I lied.

I closed my eyes and pretended to be sad. 

“Oh, I'm so sorry,” said Mr. Hendrix. “Boat stall 16. The name of the boat is the Lorelei. You can't miss it. It's the junker of the lot.”

I nodded.

“Okay..”

I headed out of the office and down the dock to find a white boat with faded paint.

“Miss Chatham? You here?”

“Oh, Eric, dear.”

I turned around, and gasped.

“It's you. Your that lady I met on the beach. The one that told me the answers weren't on Mako Island.”

“That's right. They are deep inside you. Come aboard. We must talk.”

Shaking my head, I climbed onto the boat and stepped inside. The boat creaked with every sway of the ocean.

“Tea?”

I nodded.

“Sure.”

The two of us sat down on at a small table.

“I want to know about my grandmother. My mother said she was different? What does that mean?”

Miss Chatham smiled.

“Oh..your grandmother was a wonderful person. Her name was Natalie. She was the sister of my friend Julia. We found the same pool as your friends did..and became mermaids.”

I was shocked.

“How do you know about Emma, Cleo, Rikki and Jenna?”

“I've seen the signs. The four of them are experiencing what we went through when we got our tails. However, I gave it all up.”

“You can do that?”

“Yes...However, your grandmother did not..”

“What do you mean?”

She sighed.

“Natalie met this handsome merman..his name was Liam...the two fell in love, but she knew it wouldn't work as he was born as a merman and she was human most of the time. When Liam found out the truth, he didn't care, for he loved her so much that he started to research the pool, and discovered that during a special moon cycle a human turned mermaid could give up their legs forever and reside in the sea...”

I sat quietly and listened closely.

“So..what happened?”

“Natalie gave up her legs to be with him. The last time I saw her she was pregnant...with your mother.”

“You never saw her after that?”

“No. But before she left she gave her locket to Julia, which you bought and gave to your true love.”

“The locket with the emerald in it? That was hers?”

“Yes..and that pocket watch you have was your grandfather's. He created it so you would always have a piece of his world. You were born a merman, Eric. You never were human to begin with. I'm not sure what caused you to keep your legs, but I have a feeling it had to do with your mother.”

I smiled sadly.

“I know why she did it. She did it to protect me from my father. But what of my father? Where is he? What happened after he tried to kill my mom and me? Mom won't tell me.”

Miss Chatham sighed.

“That is for another time. Come. It's late, and I must take my pills.”

I walked out, and climbed onto the dock. I turned around, and spoke.

“But I still have ques...”

The door to the cabin slid shut.

“Tions... Never mind.”

I turned and headed home. The next day, I came back to the docks with Emma, and Jenna. Both of them wanted to meet Miss Chatham. However before we could have a chance to talk with her, Zane was talking rudely to her. I went over to him and grabbed him by the shoulder.

“Hey. Listen up, you spoiled brat. It was an accident. Just because her mooring line was frayed through, doesn't give you the right to yell at her like that.”

Zane glared and pushed me away.

“Yeah? Her boat is a leaky old wreck. A public hazard. Let's see what the harbormaster thinks.”

Zane headed off to get the harbormaster. Miss Chatham turned to me.

“Thank you for standing up to me.”

Emma and Jenna came forward.

“Don't worry. He's all talk.”

“And no bite,” added Jenna.

“Thank you, Emma and Jenna. Come aboard, you three.”

We climbed aboard and Miss Chatham poured us some tea. We sat down at the table. 

Emma spoke.

“Your her.”

“That's perceptive,” Miss Chatham replied.

“The lady Cleo and Jenna always talk about.”

Miss Chatham laughed softly.

“It's nice to be talked about.”

Emma looked around the boat.

“She never told me you lived on a boat.”

“I didn't tell her I was a Capricorn either. But that's another...tale.”

Emma, and Jenna looked away shyly. Miss Chatham frowned. 

“Oh, I'm sorry. I made you uncomfortable. I'm not a very good host. Mind you, I haven't had anyone else on board the Lorelei for...twenty-three years.”

Just then, Mr. Hendrix called out.

“Miss Chatham?”

The four of us stepped out of the cabin and Miss Chatham greeted Mr. Hendrix.

“Ah, Mr. Hendrix. Would you care for some iced tea?”

“You know why I'm here, Miss Chatham. Another complaint's been received.”

“People seem to complain so much these days.”

“A regularity which is hard to ignore when they concern you.”

Miss Chatham laughed softly.

“Oh. I'll take that as a compliment. You care about me. Lovely.”

She turned away, but turned back as Zane spoke to Mr. Hendrix.

“Are you going to evict her or what?”

“Leave this to me,” he replied. “Miss Chatham, we've spoken on many occasions. On the last occasion, I reminded you of unpaid mooring fees that go back five years.”

“No, I don't recall that.”

“Before that you've been served several requests to maintain your vessel according to regulations.”

“I really must open those letters. I've been meaning to read them.”

Zane spoke up, getting more irritated by the minute.

“Your getting evicted lady. Your gone.”

Hendrix turned to confront Zane, when suddenly Miss Chatham collapsed. I cursed and checked her pulse.

“She's still breathing, but she needs medical attention.”

An ambulance was called and she was taken away by stretcher. As me, Jenna, and Emma walked alongside her, she spoke to us.

“They want my treasure...don't let them get it.”

I gently took her hand.

“Try to rest. I'll visit you when I can.”

I let go off her hand, and the medics took her away. As I walked back towards the group, Zane looked on with nervousness.

“I didn't mean to give the old biddy a heart attack.”

I crossed my arms.

“Maybe you should tell her that?”

Emma, Jenna and I left Zane alone on the dock. The next day came, and me and Emma left to pick up Miss Chatham at the hospital. She had been discharged and needed a place to stay, so we let her stay at her the Gilbert's. Later that day, she received a phone call from the harbormaster, and was told that the Loreli was being taken away from her, and possibly scrapped. She was heartbroken. However things were going to get worst. The next day, when we went to go wake her up, all of her things were gone and she was nowhere to be found. We quickly went down to the harbor to find that the Loreli was missing. The only evidence that the boat was here was Zane's jetski half sunken into the water.

Zane came over.

“What's this? That old bat. She did this.”

I stepped in front of Zane.

“You don't know that.”

Zane pushed me aside.

“Yes, I do. Right. That's how she wants to play it? She doesn't know who she's messing with.”

Zane untied his inflatable raft and hopped in.

“Zane!” called Emma, but it was too late. Zane was already racing away to find the Loreli.

Emma turned to me.

“I'm going to get Lewis. Stay here.”

Emma turned and walked away. I ignored her and jumped into the water, racing after Zane. I arrived at the Loreli before Zane and quickly surfaced.

“Miss Chatham! Zane is..oh, fish sticks!”

I quickly dove underneath the Loreli. Zane had arrived, and I could only hope he didn't see me. Just then I heard another boat approaching. Surfacing, I saw Emma and Lewis in his boat. They clambered aboard the Loreli and I put my ear to the hull, trying to make out what they were saying, but all I could hear was broken sentences. 

“She needs...hospital. If..dies..now..it's..fault...Zane...”

Swimming to the other side of the boat, I saw Emma, and Lewis load up Miss Chatham into Lewis's boat. I quickly swam up next to them, and raced alongside.

“Emma. How's she?”

“Not good. She needs a hospital.”

Just then a loud explosion was heard. We looked back and saw the Loreli was sinking.

“Oh, no.” said Emma.

Lewis turned to Emma.

“Where's Zane?”

“I don't see him.”

I groaned.

“He must be still aboard.”

Emma sighed.

“I'll have to go down.”

Lewis shook his head.

“You can't. He'll know your secret.”

“She doesn't have a choice..”

Miss Chatham slowly sat up as much as she could.

“Do you, Emma?”

Emma nodded.

“Make sure she gets to the hospital, Lewis.”

Emma took off her shoes and dove into the water. Lewis turned to me.

“Go with her. She might need help.”

I groaned.

“I'm so going to regret this.”

I took a deep breath and went under, racing after Emma. I found her trying to pull the cabin door open.

“Together!” I mouthed to her.

She nodded and I grabbed the door. We pulled at the door, but it wasn't budging. In my anger, I slammed the door with my tail, leaving a huge dent in it. I smiled and hit it again. Emma hit the door with her tail, and it bent inward with a loud clank. We pulled the sliding door open and swam away. A few seconds later, we pulled an unconscious Zane from the wreck, and hauled him to the surface. We quickly loaded him into his boat, and pulled it to Mako. Pulling ourselves and Zane onto the beach, we let our tails dry, and laid Zane facedown on the beach. A few minutes later, Zane began to cough, and he woke up.

Emma stepped forward.

“It's alright. You floated up, and we dragged you to shore.”

Zane looked around, slightly shocked.

“But..I went down..I couldn't get out.”

I sighed.

“Somehow you did. Your lucky.”

“There was something down there...Something....I don't know. Did you two see anything?”

Emma and I shook our heads.

“No.. “

“Yeah? Well, I saw something. And I'm gonna find out exactly what it was.”

Zane stared out to sea, and I watched with nervousness. He saw our tails. Or one of them. Later that evening, Emma and I came back to the Gilbert's where we gave a small box to Miss Chatham.

“We got something for you.”

We handed her the box, and she opened it.

“My treasure..”

She pulled it out. It was a locket. Just like Cleo's and Jenna's.

“You found it.”

I smiled.

“It wasn't easy. It's pretty dark down there now.”

Emma smiled sadly.

“We're sorry about the Loreli.”

Miss Chatham opened the locket. Inside was a photograph of four teen girls. Each of them had tails.

Miss Chatham smiled.

“It was 1955. I'm the one on the left.”

Emma nodded.

“I thought so.”

Miss Chatham looked back at the photo.

“And Julia, Gracie, and Natalie.”

“Where are they now?”

Miss Chatham sighed and closed the locket.

“Gone.”

She turned to us.

“Thank you. This means more to me then anything.”

Just then Mrs. Gilbert came over.

“I've got the retirement village on the line. There's a vacancy if you want it.”

Miss Chatham took our hands.

“You two have done more then enough for me.”

She looked back at Mrs. Gilbert.

“I'm sure I'll like it there.”

Mrs. Gilbert turned away and Miss Chatham looked back at us.

“I'll miss the excitement.”

I chuckled.

“I bet you will.”

She smiled and looked at a photograph of me, and the four girls together, smiling happily.


	7. Dr. Danger

Location: Mako Island, Time: A couple days after the events of Love Potion #9

Eric's POV

It had been a two months since we rescued Zane from the sinking Loreli. He began to hunt for us and only a couple weeks ago, he saw Emma in her mermaid form, while she was grabbing an old photograph of Miss Chatham and her friends as mermaids from the wreck of the Loreli. Thankfully, he didn't know it was Emma. After that, Rikki started to date Zane and found Julia's locket, Miss Chatham's best friend's locket. Miss Chatham gave her the locket and gave her own locket to Emma, so all four lockets and one pocket watch would be together once more.

Meanwhile, Jenna and I had decided to do patrols of Mako Island to keep watch for any other hunters with my mother, who loved Jenna and thought she was perfect for me. My mom had also been teaching Jenna and I how to speak telepathically as we were capable of doing it. As Jenna and I met up after patrol, my mother's voice rang in my head.

“Eric, and Jenna, come to the pool. We have something to discuss.”

“We're coming, mom,” I replied.

Jenna and I quickly swam to the pool, and we surfaced. My mom was sitting up on the edge of the rocks. But one thing was missing.

“Mom? Where's your tail?”

“I gave myself legs. Using this.”

She held out a small ring. I raised an eyebrow.

“What is it?”

“It's a moon ring. I found it under the sand of the pool. It harnesses the moon's light. I want to meet your friends...and..the people who raised my son..”

I took a deep breath.

“Okay. Let's go.”

Jenna and I dove under, and my mother followed. Soon, we arrived back on land, and I had to steady my mother as she wasn't used to walking on land. We arrived at the Gilbert's house and we entered only to hear Emma speak.

“I'm not going okay. So, just leave it at that.”

I blinked.

“Mrs. Gilbert? What's going on?”

“Oh, Emma doesn't want to go on our family vacation. Who's this?”

I gulped, but my mother stepped forward.

“Hello. I'm Shona. I'm Eric's biological mother.”

She held out her hand, and Mrs. Gilbert blinked.

“Your his biological mother?”

“Yes.”

“Why are you here?”

“I'm..”

But before she could say anymore, Cleo burst in.

“Where's Emma?”

Mr. Gilbert entered the entryway.

“Upstairs. Look, Eric why don't you and Jenna go upstairs to talk to Emma, and we'll talk with..Shona, right?”

Shona nodded.

“That's right.”

I telepathically spoke to mom.

“Keep cool. Try not to reveal too much. Just say we've been spending time together and that's it. If they ask why you left me on the beach, say you were a fool back then and didn't know better.”

Mom nodded at me and gestured at me to go upstairs. We quickly went up to find Cleo pacing the floor in Emma's room. I shut the door behind us before turning to her.

“Cleo. Chill. What's wrong?”

“Dr. Denman is back.”

“What?”

Emma turned to Cleo.

“What is she doing back here?”

“I don't know. But her boat was anchored off Mako Island this afternoon.”

I gasped.

“My mom, Jenna, and I were out there this morning. Did you see her anytime before you did?”

“No. She must have dropped anchor as soon as me and Lewis had a picnic on the beach on Mako Island.”

Rikki sighed.

“We need someone to find out what she's doing back here.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose.

“Lewis is the only one who got close enough. Should we send him?”

Emma crossed her arms.

“He was all googly eyes last time he was with her.”

Cleo bit her lip.

“I already..kind of sent Lewis to find out. We can trust him now. He wouldn't betray us. Besides..he won't be looking at her at all. I'm more then likely on his mind.”

I smiled.

“Emma...she's got a point.”

Emma sighed.

“Alright. Let's see what Lewis can dig up.”

Later, we all met up at the JuiceNet. My mother had come with us, and was well received by Emma, Cleo, Rikki, and Lewis. While they still weren't used to the fact that she was a true mermaid, they meant well. Lewis was explaining what was happening with Dr. Denman.

“It sounds like a standard environmental survey.”

Emma crossed her arms.

“And if it isn't?”

“She has no reason to lie,” said Lewis. “And I've seen her charts, and it just looks like basic statistics. You guys are safe for sure.”

Cleo spoke up.

“As sure as you were when she almost stole our DNA, or surer then that?”

Rikki sighed.

“What Cleo is trying to say that it's not exactly a warm, fuzzy feeling having a marine biologist poking around Mako Island.”

Just then Zane came over.

“What's this about Mako Island?”

I shook my head.

“Nothing.”

“I heard you talking about Mako Island. Something about a marine biologist?”

Rikki shrugged.

“Yeah, there's just this hot shot marine biologist poking around out there. Nothing special. Hey, that shirt's nice... Is it new?”

Rikki stood up and got in front of Zane to try and distract him.

“It suits you.”

That evening, I told the Gilbert's my mother was spending the night as her apartment caught on fire. I hated lying to the Gilbert's, but it was necessary to keep the secret. The next morning after taking a bath, and getting dressed, I bumped into Elliot.

“Watch where you going,” he snapped.

“It was an accident, little bro. Jeez, what crawled up your tailpipe?”

“You. You and Emma are selfish cause you don't want to go on vacation with us. You both are ruining it and our family. And don't call me little bro again.”

I was about to respond, but I couldn't find the words to say. I knocked on Emma's door.

“Come in.”

“I heard what happened from Elliot.”

Emma nodded, and sniffled.

“I know. It's fine. Let's go. Grab your mother.”

I went downstairs, and grabbed my mother. Soon we met up with the rest of the girls, and Lewis at the JuiceNet.

Emma sighed.

“My whole family hates me, and there's nothing I can do about it.”

“I'm sure that's not true,” replied Cleo.

“They do. Especially Elliot.”

I sighed.

“I agree. While he's not my brother biologically, we still grew up together. I've had his back, and he had mine.”

Suddenly, Dr. Denman entered the JuiceNet.

“Lewis. Can I have a word?”

He nodded slowly.

“Sure.”

As the two began to talk, his face changed to a slightly worried look before returning slightly to normal. Something was wrong. Then Lewis came back over. Dr. Denman followed and looked down at the table near Lewis is hand before speaking.

“Sorry for the interruption.”

As soon as she left we leaned closer to Lewis.

“What was that about?”

Lewis sighed.

“There's...there's a possibility that she may have, um...”

Rikki and Jenna crossed their arms and spoke.

“Spit it out, Lewis.”

“She's found some evidence.”

Emma gasped.

“You said she didn't have anything.”

Lewis groaned.

“She hasn't got...she found a cell sample from one of your tails.”

All six of us spoke at once.

“What?”

“From Mako Island. From the moon pool.”

Jenna whimpered slightly. She was scared. I took her outside.

“We're doomed, but we're not going to panic. We just...don't go to Mako Island. Until she leaves.”

I pulled Jenna close to me. Just then my mother came out of the JuiceNet.

“Emma, Cleo, and Rikki are going to Mako Island. I'm going with them. Just to make sure they stay out of trouble. You stay here.”

“I want to come with.”

“No. You may have more training of your powers then them, but you are still my son. I can't let you go out there. Not with as long as this..marine whatever her face is out there searching. You stay here and protect Jenna.”

I was about to speak, but my mother headed away from the JuiceNet and dived into the water. But little did I know trouble was about to find us.

Location: Dr. Denman's Boat

Denman's POV

Mr. Bennett, Zane's father came over to the railing.

“Sorry about that. My son has some pretty fanciful ideas. Ignore him. Now I hope your results are proving favorable.”

“Mmhmm. Everything is pretty much as we expected. Although I did find something curious,” I replied. “It's a cell sample I found in the area.”

Zane looked over.

“Where did you find this cell sample?”

“Really, Zane,” replied Mr. Bennett. “This is none of your business.”

I continued.

“I'm not sure what it came from, but I found it on Mako Island.”

Just then Greg spoke up.

“Um, Dr. Denman? You might want to take a look at this.”

I walked over to the computer and was shocked at what I saw. Our underwater camera's caught something impossible. A mermaid.

Zane laughed.

“I knew it. How's that for an observable fact?”

As we studied the photo, Mr. Bennett spoke up.

“We all need to keep quiet about this. The last thing we need is to have the media swarming all over Mako Island. Zane, can you keep this a secret?”

Zane nodded.

“As long as there's credit where credit is due. I told you they were out there and you..”

Mr. Bennett sighed.

“Look, son. I'm sorry I doubted you. I was wrong. And for that I apologize.”

As father and son continued to talk, I pulled another photo straight off the printer. Zane left and I headed over to his father.

“Have a look at this. Another camera.”

He gasped. It was Lewis's friends Emma, Cleo, Rikki, and an unknown mermaid.

“Unbelievable. I know these girls. I don't think we should share this with Zane.”

“Agreed. But who is the fourth mermaid?”

“I can tell you that,” said a voice. 

We turned and saw a man dressed in an all-black suit and tie standing on the boat. His eyes held a cold calculating stare at me.

“And you are?”

“James. And that mermaid there? That is my wife. Her name.....is Shona. And she has something that I want.”


	8. A Twist in the Tail

Location: The Marine Park, Time: Next Day

Eric's POV

It had been a day since the girls and I decided to go on total lock down on our powers and our tails. My mom had has taken refuge at a hotel as she believed I would be safer from Dr. Denman if we were not seen together. We were at the Marine Park talking with Miss Chatham about Mako Island.

“Mako Island was here long before all of us,” she said. “And it'll be here long after we've all gone, and long after this full moon.”

Cleo nodded.

“Oh, yeah. Full moon time again. Tonight. Is it going to be as bad as it was last time?”

“The full moon is a powerful force. But this time however, it's even more so.”

Emma looked over at Miss Chatham.

“Really? How do you know?”

“I know.”

Lewis spoke up.

“Not everything can be explained. Some things need to be taken on faith. Right, Miss C?”

Miss Chatham smiled.

“Right, Lewis.”

She chuckled. Little did we know, someone was taking pictures of Emma, Cleo and Rikki. Later, we met up at the JuiceNet with my mother. Lewis was shocked at what news Rikki had.

“There was a camera?”

“We didn't see it when were swimming in,” replied Rikki.

Cleo spoke up.

“It mustn’t have been a very good photo. Otherwise they would have recognized it was us.”

“Are you complaining about it,” asked Rikki.

Jenna joined in.

“Do you want to write to the manufacturer and get Denman's money back?”

I gently took Jenna's hand.

“Hey. We'll figure this out. It'll be okay.”

Jenna leaned against my chest.

“I'm sorry I got angry at you, Cleo.”

Cleo nodded.

“It's alright. You didn’t mean it.”

Emma sighed.

“Look, maybe we should talk about this somewhere more private.”

Just then Lewis's phone rang. He answered it,

“Lewis McCartney. Oh, it's you. Why would you...Can I call you back?”

He hung up the phone.

“That was Dr. Denman. She wants to meet up with me.”

Cleo spoke up.

“Your not going to go, are you?”

“Cleo, I don't see why not. I mean, what have we got to lose?”

Rikki crossed her arms.

“You don't have a lot to lose. We have plenty.”

“Maybe if I talk to her, I can find out what she does know, and what she doesn't.”

“And maybe she'll play you like a cello.”

Emma sighed.

“As much as I hate to say it, Lewis is right. We can't go, but Lewis can.”

I looked over to Emma.

“What about me? I wasn't there when the photo was taken. I can provide Lewis back up if it's needed.”

Jenna took my arm.

“Eric, you can't.”

“I have to. It's the only way I can know if your safe.”

I quickly gave her a kiss.

“Lewis, you coming?”

Rikki slid out of her seat, and allowed Lewis to get out of the booth. Mom came over to me.

“You come back, and stay safe.”

“I will, mom.”

I hugged her tightly, before heading out the door with Lewis.

Soon, we arrived to where Denman's boat was anchored and was escorted along the dock and onto the boat. I felt like we were being taken to a top secret meeting like in the spy movies and our cover was about to be blown.

Dr. Denman came over.

“Lewis. Good to see you. And who's this?”

I spoke up, keeping my voice level and steady.

“I'm Shadow. Lewis's assistant. He hired me a couple days ago, and invited me here with him. I do hope that's not a problem?”

“Of course not. Come aboard.”

As Lewis and I sat down, Lewis spoke up.

“Well, you certainly know all the tourist spots.”

“I like it here,” replied Dr. Denman. “There's no one for miles.”

Greg came over and sat down some bottled water next to us. I nodded.

“Thank you.”

Denmen spoke up.

“So, Lewis, you don't have that little cell sample anymore? The one that mutates on contact with water?”

“No, actually. I lost it.”

“Really? You wouldn't be holding out on me, would you, Lewis?”

Lewis smiled.

“Of course not.”

Dr. Denman nodded and spoke.

“You know, sometimes I think you actually know a little more then your letting on. Like your friends, for example. Emma, Cleo and Rikki.”

Lewis shrugged.

“What about them?”

“Their interesting girls.”

I smiled.

“Yeah, well..you could say their good company.”

Dr. Denman picked up a folder and handed it to us.

“Not what I meant.”

Lewis took the folder and opened it. Inside was a photo of my mother, Emma, Cleo, and Rikki. Lewis shrugged.

“What, this? Oh, it's a fake.”

Dr. Denman stared at us.

“It's nothing personal, Lewis. This is business, and those girls could be worth a fortune.”

Lewis shook his head nervously.

“You know, it's been very nice chatting to you, but we should be getting home.”

We began to stand up, but Greg stopped us.

I sighed.

“Okay. Enough with this.”

I stretched out my hand to use my powers, but all I got were a few sparks.

“What? How?”

“I'm how.”

A man stepped outside of the cabin of the boat, and smiled. He was holding a staff with three prongs. A trident.

“Hello, son. Your mother was nice enough to follow you and stop by. Bring her up.”

Some of the men disappeared below deck, and brought my mother up. She was tied up and unconscious. I made a move for her, but I couldn't move. My father had frozen me into place.

“Oh. Sorry, son. I can't let you near her. You see, I'm unstoppable now. This trident can only be wielded by full-blooded merpeople. You, however, are only half.”

I spoke up.

“What do you want with us?”

“I have what I want already. The Trident. But there's something else. I want a son and a wife that will obey me and do my bidding. And now I can do that.”

He began to chant, and I could feel something taking control. I grit my teeth.

“Get out..of ...my head.”

My anger began to surge, and I began to resist. My powers began to spark.

“Lewis, run!”

More sparks flew from my hands, and I aimed my arm towards my father. Letting go of the electricity, it flew towards my father, but it wasn't strong enough to hurt him. He used the trident like a racket and ricochet the shot towards my mother.

“Nooooo!”

In my short burst of adrenalin, I broke free of my father's control over my limbs, and jumped into the way of the electricity, feeling it shock every part of my body. The pain was too much and I passed out.

Location: The Moon Pool, Time: A few minutes later.

Jenna's POV

We had gotten a text from Lewis telling us to meet him at Mako Island. Cleo called out for Lewis.

“Lewis! You here?”

“Eric! Where are you?”

“Glad you could come, girls,” said a voice. It was Dr. Denman.

All four of us dived under the water only to find the entrance had been covered up with a metal gate. We shook it to try to free ourselves, but it didn't work. We swam back into the moon pool in defeat. Dr. Denman stared at us.

“I think it's time we talked.”

Cleo pulled up a bubble of water, and Emma froze it. Cleo launched the ball of water at one of Denman's helpers who dove out of the way. The ball of frozen water smashed against the wall of the moon pool. I summoned a storm and launched a bolt of lightning near Denman, and it missed. She grabbed a tablet and brought it over to us.

“Before you do something you'll regret, you should see this.”

There was a webcam video watching Lewis, Eric, and Shona. They had been captured. Eric was laying unconscious on the bed with Shona checking him over. I yelled at Denman.

“What did you do to my Eric?”

“I didn't do anything. He jumped in the way of his own electricity to protect his mother, which I find admirable, but foolish. Needless to say if anything was to happen to me...”

Emma spoke up.

“What do you want from us?”

“Dr. Denman!”

Dr. Denman smiled.

“Over here, Harrison. Your just in time. And so are you girls. You can meet the man that's been funding this.”

Mr. Bennett smiled.

“Extraordinary.”

Then Zane entered the cave. He was shocked.

“What is this? Rikki?”

Location: Dr. Denman's Boat, Time A few minutes later

Eric's POV

I groaned lightly.

“Mom? What..what happened?”

“You took several hundred volts for me. You should be dead. I hate to say it, but you have your father's strength.”

“Where are we?”

“In the brig on Denman's Boat.”

“Where's my lousy excuse for a father?”

“He got away with the Trident and left us here. He thought you were dead. You took quite a hit from your powers. We'll get him and the Trident back.”

“How did he get it in the first place?”

But before she could respond the door unlocked. Zane entered the brig. Lewis scoffed.

“I should have known you'd be involved.”

Zane turned to the lone crew member.

“Give us a minute.”

The man nodded and Zane entered the room, shutting the door behind him.

“Lewis, Eric, Shona, you have absolutely no reason in the world to trust me right now, but...”

I scoffed, and sat up, wincing in pain.

“If it was a stating the obvious Olympics, Zane, you'd win a gold medal. Your a dirtbag and you always were.”

“Look, I've done a really, really dumb thing, ok? But the girls are in a lot of danger right now, and I need your help.”

I nodded.

“Let's do this. You have a plan?”

“Yeah.”

Zane tied himself up and left the door to the brig opened slightly, and began to shout, the sound muffled because of the gag around his mouth. My mom and I had moved to the beds on the other side of the room so we would be out of view of the door. Lewis was against the wall. The door opened and the crew member look inside. He didn't see us and went to find Zane. Lewis pushed the door open, and knocked the crew member out. Lewis opened the door, and Zane untied himself. We quickly scurried off the boat, and Lewis and Zane got into his boat. I turned to my mom.

“Lewis will need our help to free the girls.”

We jumped into the water, and our tails formed. We quickly swam to the underwater entrance of the moon pool and waited for Lewis. A few seconds later, Lewis came to the gate, and put the anchor from Zane's boat into the gate. We made sure it was secure, and swam to the surface. Lewis climbed into the boat and checked his watch. It beeped and he started the engine to the boat. My mom and I dove under as Lewis revved the engine. We saw the gate shift, but it didn't rip off. The anchor chain went slack, and then tightened again. The gate broke off and was dragged away. A few seconds later, four figures zoomed out of the entrance, scattering away in a cloud of bubbles. Mom and I raced away as well. A few minutes later, all seven of us arrived at the Gilbert's in a rush. Mrs. Gilbert was in the living room and saw us.

“Oh, Emma your home. Come and see who's here.”

We entered the living room. Emma sighed.

“Miss Chatham.”

We went upstairs to Emma's room to talk to Miss Chatham.

Jenna was explaining to Miss Chatham what had happened.

“And if we stayed...”

“We would have been in a circus by now,” continued Rikki.

Emma nodded.

“Or sushi.”

Cleo sighed.

“What do we do? Do we have to leave town?”

Lewis shut the door and sighed.

“We've really got to help them Miss C.”

Miss Chatham nodded.

“Yes. And your right. Those people are never going to leave you alone.”

“So it's hopeless,” said Emma.

Rikki crossed her arms.

“I don't believe that. If we can fight, we should fight.”

“Or maybe you should give up,” said Miss Chatham. “Your powers, that is. And being mermaids.”

Lewis gasped.

“They can do that?”

“Only at special times. Very special moments. Right, Shona?”

Shona nodded.

“Like tonight.”

Miss Chatham smiled.

“As I said, it's not just any full moon.”

Lewis gasped in realization.

“Tonight's a lunar eclipse.”

“Exactly. The full moon is one thing. But the lunar eclipse makes it very special. If you were in the moon pool, during the eclipse, it would draw away your powers.”

Rikki shook her head.

“No way. That's not an option. We haven't gone through everything we have just to throw it all away.”

I sighed.

“We don't have a choice, Rikki. We're going to be hunted if we keep our powers. Think about it. If we get rid of them they will leave us alone.”

The five of us sighed.

“Eric's right,” said Emma. “We have to do this.”

Emma, Cleo, Rikki, Jenna, my mother and I headed outside, and dove into the water, racing away to Mako Island. As we made our way towards the entrance by the falls on the island, the moon began to slowly rise. We entered the moon pool and looked around.

“I much prefer swimming in,” said Cleo.

Rikki sighed.

“And if Denman had set more traps underwater?”

Cleo looked around.

“It looks like she's given up.”

Emma shook her head.

“She's not the type. Come on.”

We all stood at the edge of the pool and looked up. The moon was slowly making it's way over the roof of pool.

I sighed.

“The moon's nearly overhead.”

Emma smiled sadly.

“Funny, eh? Thought this would last forever.”

We all took each others hands.

Shona spoke up.

“What will you miss most?”

Emma sighed.

“I'll miss surfing without a board.”

“I'll miss how I could make water do anything I wanted. That was great,” said Cleo.”

Rikki smiled.

“I'll miss how cool it all was.”

Jenna smiled sadly.

“I'll miss swimming with the love of my life with a tail.”

I gently squeezed her hand.

“I'll miss swimming with all of you as mermaids.”

Just then the pool bubbled. I turned to my mother.

“Is it supposed to do that?”

“No.”

Just then Denman surfaced along with two of her crew members. We backed up as Denman pulled herself out of the water.

“Stay right where you are. We don't want to have to hurt you.”

“I wish we could say the same.”

Cleo stretched out her hand and shot one of the crew members down with a blast of water from the moon pool. Then Greg climbed out of the water, and made a move towards us. Emma stretched out her hand and began to freeze the water on his swimming suit, making him fall back. Then all six of us stretched out our hands and aimed at Denman. She backed up and spoke, putting her hands up in surrender.

“Enough. Okay? I want you six to consider an offer.”

Emma shook her head.

“It's too late.”

We put our hands down, and looked up. The moon was almost overhead, and the pool began to bubble.

“It's time.”

All of us took each others hands.

I turned to Denman.

“We're giving our powers up.”

Rikki nodded.

“When we enter the water, we're giving up everything.”

Dr. Denman was shocked.

“But why would you give up being mermaids or a merman?”

“Because of people like you,” said Jenna.

Cleo nodded.

“There will always be people like you trying to exploit us.”

Emma sighed.

“The only thing left to do is to give this all up.”

Dr. Denman shook her head.

“No, you can't.”

“Yes, we can,” replied my mother.

“Please if we work together...”

Rikki shook her head.

“Not interested.”

The six of us looked at each other, and we dived into the pool. Time seemed to slowly down as we landed in the water. Our tails formed, but they felt different. Like they were being taken away. Little golden bubbles flew up towards the moon and the six of us stared at the moon as a black mass covered it. Suddenly a bright flash engulfed the pool, causing us to cover our eyes. Looking down, we saw our tails had vanished and we pulled ourselves out of the pool.

Emma turned to Dr. Denman.

“It's over. Why don't you just go home?”

We turned and left the pool, going out the same way we came in. The next day, Jenna and I met up at our surfing spot. I kissed her in greeting.

“Hey. Ready to surf?”

“Yeah. I just...”

“I know. It was fun while it lasted. Come on.”

We grabbed our boards, and raised into the surf. But then ten seconds later, everything changed. We turned into bubbles, and our tails appeared. We quickly dove under the water, and swam back to the beach, hiding behind some rocks, and grabbing our towels. We dried off our tails, and looked at each other in shock. We quickly headed over to Emma's house, and we found Cleo, Rikki, and Shona talking to Emma who was in the pool, tail and all.

I went over and spoke to them.

“What happened? We sprouted our tails again. How is this possible?”

Emma sighed.

“Miss Chatham was really clear. We gave away our powers.”

“Only for twelve hours.”

Lewis entered the pool area. Rikki turned to him.

“What do you mean?”

“I..It's temporary. During a lunar eclipse, the moon pool draws away your powers for twelve hours.”

Jenna looked over.

“She didn't say that.”

“She did to me. She said that if you guys believed that your powers were gone forever, so too would Dr. Denman.”

My mother sighed.

“I knew about this too. My whole life has revolved around the moon pool. It was hard not to say anything.”

Lewis chuckled.

“It's funny because she told me not to tell you.”

The five of us stared at him. He began to look nervous.

“What's up?”

A Few Seconds Later...

“Come on, you can't do this! Where's your sense of humor?”

Cleo had Lewis suspended up in the air by water she was controlling.

Emma smiled.

“Next time he better remember who his friends are.”

Rikki smiled.

“Leave him up there for a couple of hours.”

“No, no, no. Don't you listen to her, Cleo,” screamed Lewis.

Cleo smiled.

“Yeah, no one messes with mermaids.”

I smiled.

“Or a merman.”

The six of us smiled at each other and laughed.


End file.
